Striking Seemandhra electricity employees on Thursday said they have called off their indefinite strike temporarily in view of cyclone Phailan that is expected to hit the Bay of Bengal coast on Friday.

The five-day long strike by more than 30,000 power employees has led to blackouts
that have crippled healthcare, rail transport and businesses in Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh, the two residuary regions that will remain of Andhra Pradesh after Telangana is carved from it.

The employees have pledged they will continue the agitation till the government withdraws the decision to bifurcate the state.

Following a request by chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who held talks with the striking employees at the Secretariat here this afternoon, the Electricity Employees Joint Action Committee agreed to call off the strike and resume duties from tomorrow morning, JAC leader Saibabu said.

Other important developments

1 Home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the government will go ahead with its decision to create Telangana, but did not commit whether the Telangana Bill will be table during the Winter session of Parliament.

He also remained non-committal on imposition of President's rule in the state seething with anti-Telangana agitation in Seemandhra. The Group of Ministers set up to look into the creation of Telangana will submit its report as early as possible and justice will be given to Andhra Pradesh, he said.

2 YSR Congress president Y SJaganmohan Reddy was undergoing treatment at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), where he was admitted yesterday night after doctors warned him that he might slip into coma if he continued the strike. The police had put him in an ambulance and driven him straight to the hospital.The Kadapa MP began his indefinite fast on October 5 in support of united Andhra Pradesh.

3 Accusing the Congress of carrying out selective leaks against it on the Telengana issue, YSR Congress today said former Andhra chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy never supported the creation of a separation state."He never supported carving out Telangana. He worked for the constitution of the second States Reorganisation Commission," YSR Congress leader M V Mysoora Reddy told reporters in Hyderabad.

4 Human resources development minister MM Pallam Raju, who has submitted his resignation over the Telangana issue, today skipped the crucial Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) meeting, which is deliberating on a host of issues including teacher trainings and review of mid- day meal programme in the country.Raju, who has been skipping the official programmes ever since he submitted his resignation, had attended an award ceremony organised by his Ministry at Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterday to honour winners of 'Presidential Awards for Classical Tamil'.He and his four ministerial colleagues from the Seemandhra region had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday to press for their resignation but had got no word on its acceptance.

5 The Delhi high court today decided to hear a plea of Seemandhra Congress leader and MP Lagadapati Rajagopal seeking a direction to the Lok Sabha speaker to accept his resignation over the Telangana issue.

Justice V K Jain asked additional solicitor general Rajeeve Mehra to assist the court, saying that a question of law is involved in the matter.Rajagopal had submitted his resignation to LS speaker Meira Kumar on August 2, but Kumar is yet to act on his resignation.

6 Curfew in violence-hit Vizianagaram town in the district was relaxed for two hours this morning to facilitate people to purchase essential commodities as the situation is fast returning to normal. Deputy inspector general of police P Umapathi said curfew might be relaxed later in the day for two more hours if the situation improves further.